Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day
Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is a 1968 animated featurette based on stories from the Winnie-the-Pooh book by A. A. Milne. The featurette was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company on December 20, 1968 as a double feature with The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. This was the second of the studio's Winnie the Pooh shorts. It was later added as a segment to the 1977 film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The music was written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. It was notable for being the last animated short produced by Walt Disney, who died during its production. Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day won the 1968 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. The Academy Award was awarded posthumously to Walt Disney, who died of lung cancer two years before the film's initial release. It is also the only Winnie the Pooh production that won an Academy Award. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, which was released six years later in 1974, was nominated for the same Academy Award, but lost to Closed Mondays. The animated featurette also served as an inspiration for the Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh ride in Walt Disney World in which the rider experiences several scenes from the cartoon, including Pooh's Heffalump and Woozle dream. Plot The story begins when Winnie the Pooh is on his way to his thoughtful spot. Today is a very windy day. But as Pooh sits thinking, Gopher pops out of the ground and advises Pooh to leave the spot because of it being Windsday. Pooh, having misunderstood his warning, goes across the Hundred Acre Wood to wish everyone a happy Windsday. Pooh first goes to his friend Piglet who lives in a beech tree. Piglet originally came out to rake leaves but the wind proves too strong for him to handle. Piglet is nearly blown away but Pooh quickly hangs on to him by his scarf, like a kite on a string. As Pooh struggles to keep a hold of the scarf he passes by Kanga and Roo, wishing them both a happy Windsday; Eeyore, whose stick house Pooh breaks as he passes; and finally Rabbit, who Pooh inadvertently helps harvest the carrots in his vegetable garden as he slides by. The blustery wind finally blows Pooh and Piglet over to Owl's treehouse, where he invites them in. Pooh wishes Owl a happy Windsday, as he has everyone else, but Owl informs them that the wind is due to a mild spring zephyr rather than a particular holiday. While Owl begins telling Pooh and Piglet stories of adventures his relatives had, the strong wind rocks his house back and forth causing it to sway and eventually both the tree and the house collapse. Owl blames Pooh at first but Pooh says he didn't do it. Christopher Robin and the others come and examine the wrecked house and since it cannot be repaired, Eeyore volunteers to seek out a new house for Owl, who proceeds to tell the other more stories of his relatives for quite some time (from page 41 to 62). As night falls the wind is still blowing and Pooh is kept awake by growling and scratching noises, and he opens his door for the visitor outside. An orange bouncing tiger named Tigger emerges, rolling over Pooh and sitting on him. Tigger introduces himself with his signature song (The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers) and informs Pooh that he has come looking for something to eat. He decides to try some of Pooh's honey but after a few tastes he gets disgusted and decides that Tigger's don't like honey. Before leaving Pooh's house, Tigger tells him that there are Heffalumps and Woozily in the forest that steal honey. Pooh, frightened by Tigger's tale, stays awake all night to guard his honey but eventually falls fast asleep. But as he is sleeping, he has a nightmare about Heffalumps and Woozles stealing his honey and chasing him around, until he wakes up during a flood-inducing rainfall. There is a thunderstorm on page 71 and a bit of a cloudburst on page 73. Later, Piglet is washed away from his home. He writes a bottle-note for help just before the waters carry him off, sitting on a chair. Pooh manages to reach higher ground with only ten honey pots. However, as he is eating some of the honey the rising waters carry him away. Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Tigger all gather at Christopher Robin's house, which is situated on the highest ground, while Eeyore continues house hunting for Owl. Roo finds Piglet's bottle, and Owl flies off to tell Piglet that help is on the way. Owl manages to reach Piglet and Pooh, but before he can inform them of the impending rescue (and tell them another one of his boring stories) a waterfall threatens to carry them all over the side. Pooh switches places with Piglet as they take the plunge, and luckily for them the waterfall washes them right into Christopher Robin yard. Thinking that Pooh has rescued Piglet, Christopher Robin decides to throw a party celebrating Pooh's heroic deed. During the party, Eeyore announces that he has found a new home for Owl. He leads everyone over to his discovery which, known to everyone except Owl and Eeyore, is Piglet's beech tree. Owl is very impressed with the house, but before anyone can tell him who the home belongs to, Piglet decides that Owl should have the house. Pooh decides to allow Piglet to move into his home and is very impressed by his selflessness, so asks Christopher Robin to make the hero party for two instead of one. Cast * Sterling Holloway as Winnie the Pooh * Paul Winchell as Tigger * John Fiedler as Piglet * Clint Howard as Roo * Barbara Luddy as Kanga * Ralph Wright as Eeyore * Hal Smith as Owl * Junius Matthews as Rabbit * Jon Walmsley as Christopher Robin * Howard Morris as Gopher * Sebastian Cabot as the Narrator * The Mellomen as Singers Songs * A Rather Blustery Day (sung by Sterling Holloway) * The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers (sung by Paul Winchell) * Heffalumps and Woozles (sung by the Mellomen) * The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down (sung by the Disney Studio Chorus) * Hip Hip Pooh-Ray! (sung by the Disney Studio Chorus) Category:1968 films Category:1960s American animated films Category:American musical films Category:Films produced by Walt Disney Category:Films directed by Wolfgang Reitherman Category:Film scores by Buddy Baker Category:Musicals by the Sherman Brothers Category:Winnie-the-Pooh films